Lainey lost her second tooth this weekend, its exit from her smile made with a clean snap, no blood, caught between her fingers rather than landing in a pile of broken shells this time. She was wiggling it, examining its position in the bathroom mirror, when I stepped into the shower; and by the time I was lathering my hair, it was out. Calmly holding the tooth between her fingers, she tapped on the shower door to show me.
“Just now?” I asked.
“Yep. Look.” She flashed an underbite to reveal the cavern, the lost tooth’s successor already pushed through and making its way to the front.
I congratulated her on her new smile and hyped up the tooth fairy’s arrival.
Spoiler alert and Tooth Fairy Rule #1: Don’t hype up the tooth fairy’s arrival if she’s not going to arrive.
This was our second chance to give the tooth fairy thing a good start, so you’d think we’d be on high alert to do it right. That said, fast forward to yesterday morning when Lainey woke up and announced, perplexed, that maybe the tooth fairy didn’t come because her head wasn’t on a pillow.
Seriously, only second tooth in and we’re already screwing up?
“Oh, I bet you’re right,” I agreed. “No worries, Lainey. We’ll make sure it’s under the pillow tonight and I’m sure she’ll come.”
This was all fine and dandy until an hour later, Brett came running in the kitchen frantically whispering, “We forgot about her tooth! I went ahead and put a dollar under the blanket and told her to go check again.”
“For real?” I asked. “I just told her the tooth fairy probably looked in the wrong place and would come back tonight.”
Rule #2: Cross-check bullshit stories between spouses before implementing recovery plan.
Following Lainey into our bedroom, we watched while she picked up the very obvious posed blanket to find a dollar, our cue to proceed with Operation Bullshit: “See! The tooth fairy did remember. The dollar was there all this time. You just didn’t see it.”
Rule #3: Don’t blame your kid for your failure.
She stared at the dollar, her amazement/thrill/curiosity/excitement all buried in the cutest little smirk I ever did see.
I kissed the top of her head, in love with her innocence. “Now you have TWO tooth fairy dollars! Let’s go put it with your other one.”
Suddenly, Brett’s head snapped in surprise, a look of horror swallowing his face. “Nooooooooooooo!” he mouthed, his hands flailing above him like a referee.
I realized the horror. Oh my God. He TOOK THE FIRST TOOTH FAIRY DOLLAR FROM HER PIGGY BANK TO PAY FOR THE SECOND TOOTH. For the love of God, how come we never have cash in this house?
Rule #4: (you’d think this would be a given): Don’t steal from your kid.
Rule #5: Keep cash on hand.
At this point, there was nothing I could do but laugh.
“We suck at this,” I whispered to Brett before swooping in to distract Lainey from fetching the first dollar.
We recovered well, but I’m pretty sure we used up all our Get Out of Jail Free cards. She has to be on to us. We’re one mishap away from The Jig Is Up—from blowing all of it—Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the freaking Elf on a Shelf. We’re too laid back, we’re too forgetful, we’re too gung-ho-at-first-but-fizzle-out-later for this shit.
I retold my story to Heidi this morning.
“Dude, you have a lot to learn,” she said, “Let me give you a few more tips.”
By the way, her tooth fairy credentials: 14 teeth.
Heidi continued, “Don’t sprinkle glitter, don’t write a poem, don’t write a note. Just leave the dollar and walk away. If you don’t, they’ll expect it every time. Trust me. I’ve heard one too many times ‘How come there’s no glitter?! She didn’t leave a note!’”
“Oh this is good,” I said.
“And here’s another thing,” she continued, “Don’t fall prey to one of those stupidass sites where you pay $10 to upload a picture of your sleeping child so they can Photoshop a fairy on their shoulder.”
“Oh Heidi, you didn’t. $10?”
“Okay, it was $15. Don’t judge. Also, don’t let your kids see The Tooth Fairy with the Rock or you’ll have to answer all these %$#@ing questions. I mean, seriously, the Rock as the Tooth Fairy?”
“I guess this is a good time to admit something,” I jumped in.
“What’d you do?” She started laughing before I even told her.
“That last tooth? I overcompensated for the shell disaster. Hours after she found her dollar, I read something about tooth fairy footprints, and…”
“Kelle, stop,” Laughter.
“Heidi, I stamped a Barbie’s foot in an ink pad, stomped it all over paper and then dragged Lainey in to see it. It didn’t even look like a foot! Barbie doesn’t have any toes!”
“Lord.”
“She has a whole mouthful of teeth to go, how long can I keep this up?”
“You have three kids,” she said, “be prepared to burn out by Kid #2.”
“For real?”
“Hey, it happens.”
The crazy thing is, I was so excited for that first tooth. Years before even having kids, I thought about how we’d do the Tooth Fairy, how fun it would be to plan a kid’s birthday party, how I’d continue the Christmas traditions my parents did to make Santa as real as he could be even if I cursed ever starting that make-a-reindeer-hoof-stencil nonsense, and this was all before Pinterest. I played out these magical childhood scenarios in my head much like I took notes while student teaching—writing down all the cool classroom ideas I collected, storing project sketches, making promises to myself that when I taught the Boston Tea Party lesson? I’d build a ship in my classroom and let the kids act it out.
There was an article that went viral last week about how childhood is magical in itself, and we shouldn’t try to make it more magical. I laughed and shook my head with an, “Oh my God, so true!” but later felt a little voice, perhaps my own insecurity in wanting to defend our sometimes outlandish and yes, highly unnecessary, attempts to create magic. I mean, a North Pole party? Really? “Defend the magic!” the voice whispered—an ironic plea, considering our Tooth Fairy magic was a big fat flop days later. It’s just that, even though we mumble and complain about how ridiculously far we’ve gone, even though we set ourselves up for failure more times than not, even though it often seems too much (sometimes it is), even though we curse the mom who created the list of 101 Things to Do With Your Elf on a Shelf, sometimes trying to create magic is…well, magic. It was to me the night I stayed in my classroom wee hours of the night, rigging flaps of butcher paper to the ceiling to build a ship for our Boston Tea Party lesson—an overzealous teacher not yet fully poisoned by benchmark demands, standardized tests and people who thought that the Boston Tea Party was pretty entertaining in itself, so stop trying to make it more. Teachers don’t have time for this. Stop purposely adding stress to your job. You’re making us other teachers look bad. Kids are going to expect this. They’re losing their ability to independently find magic in books.
I get it, I get it. There’s a point there. But, you know what? I hope somewhere in the line of competent, benchmark-conscious teachers (“all good things, all good things,” as Olaf would say), my kids will have some overzealous ones too—ones who go beyond “Education is magical in itself” and maybe take a page from the student teaching notebook and build the damn ship. Take on the added stress. Song and dance it once in a while. If we’re creating magic from Pinterest pressure or to Facebook one-up or because we think our kid’s childhood has to have a dog-and-pony-show for happy memories, then yes—not good things, not good things. But don’t throw Peter Pan out with the bath water.
Maybe the “epic fails” like forgetting to put the dollar under the pillow or starting Elf on a Shelf and canning him three days later are exactly what balances all this out, toughens up our kids, allows us to create magic now and then without becoming one of “those parents.”
We’ll forget about teeth again in the future, I’m sure. We’ll complain about how late it is on Christmas Eve when we still have to sweep up the reindeer food. We’ll say, “Look at us, we’re ridiculous, what a joke” while we drop Easter Bunny poop all over the yard. But you know what? We’ll also admit that we like it (sssshhhhhh). That we’d do it again in a heartbeat. That while we curse the fluffy holidays and the stories of what other parents are doing, we might actually enjoy, even for just a moment, dipping our toes into magical childhood while we knock down chairs and dye shit green the night before St. Patrick’s Day because, “Oh My God! Look! The leprechauns came!”
Will our kids need therapy? It’s likely. But it’s likely without all these shenanigans, so what’s one more thing? Just think—the stories we’ll tell around the Thanksgiving table someday. One of them will be that one time when Dad stole your dollar to pay you for your tooth, and my, how we’ll howl and slap the table.
Long live the (messed-up, ridiculous, story-rendering, stop-with-this-nonsense) magic.
This is a brilliant post. My daughter has not yet lost teeth, and is only at the point now where she half understands who Santa is. I never had those maybe-slightly-ok-crazily-over-the-top moments. I am going to make some for my daughter, not all of them, but some of them.
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN! I read that article the other day and many, many others just like it in the recent past. And honestly, I’m sick of hearing it. lol Can’t we all just do what we like to do and not worry about everyone else? My boy is 8 now and i don’t have much more time with the magic, thankyouverymuch. And let me tell you, it’s going to be an entire of day of laughs and stories when we recount our elf mischief together. “omg, i’m so glad it wasn’t really Hoppy who painted my toenails green, Mom” 😉
Our tooth fairy was habitually lame. One day, I found my kid in her room, writing a note about how sad she was that her fairy was so forgetful. I hightailed it to James Avery, and bought the tooth fairy charm. Had the lady write a note from her “fairy.” Held on to that for a few months, and “almost” forgot to put it under the pillow!
hahahaha Easter Bunny poop?! Seriously?! Hope you don’t step in it 😉 thanks for this, made me laugh. think all parents should admit they’re not perfect ALL the time 😉 x
I still have a tooth in the car from last week. This morning she informed us the didn’t bother to tell anyone her tooth was out. I stink at this.
Such a fantastic read. I, like yourself, have 3 kids and a forth set to arrive in a mere 3 days and I often get down on myself for not making thing as magical as I did with just one kid… Or even two. We did the glitter dollar AND the note for the 1st tooth and now that he’s lost 6 we’ve forgotten at least twice! Once we told him it was because his room was so messy she couldn’t get in there (hey it got the room clean!). I often did myself wondering if I’m doing enough to make their childhood special, do we go on enough adventures, will they remember only the times I was tired and took a nap while they watched cartoons. Rarely do I just sick back and take the time to realize they’re happy kids. They love deep, smile far more often then they do anything else, and tell me they love me or that I’m their favorite more times then I can count in a day, so I must be doing ok. They don’t need all the extra bells and whistles that I see on Pinterest an vow to do, an then forget. It’s hard work being a parent and often times we make it even harder then it has to be.
so glad your tooth fairy..who by the way is named Allowisha..leaves only 1 dollar..many tooth fairies these days leave much more..my daughters had friends that got 20 dollars a tooth..mine never got more than a dollar..and sometimes forgot and had to sneak it under the pillow later
Loved this post! As a mom of much older kids, it brings me right back to the time the tooth fairy “forgot” our third – and youngest – daughter. The tears and drama and gosh…I don’t even remember how we explained it away! Probably doubled the loot the next night – if we remembered! Keep doing your “magic.” It’s definitely as much for you as it is for the kids, but they will remember more of it than you think. Especially in today’s photo crazy world. I would bet there’s a big kid out there somewhere still talking about your Boston Tea Party ship, too!
Loved this story, a friend ( yes really!!) Was once a little tipsy when it came time to leave a £1 coin and ended up leaving a trolly token in its place ….. she had some explaining to do the next morning! X
My husband and I were just talking last night about how we will likely fail at Toothfairy business when the time comes…lol. This post made me crack up- out loud- in my office. People are staring.
I love the kind of mom that you are : ). You inspire me. And, holy heck, you make me want more babies right this second.
Happy Monday. Love, Becky
Man, parenting is hard and ridiculous and fun. You guys are doing great. I think it’s all worth it for the future Thanksgiving knee-slapper.
Loved it. Totally laughed out loud. The Easter Bunny stuck Peeps on skewers all in our front yard one year. Well over 60 of those things. It was giggly and awesome and magical. Thanks to my Aunt Shelia.
Long live magic!
When I read the article, I had two reactions. I understand the thought behind it. Too many people feel the “Pinterest” pressure and too many mom’s are competing on social media or within the classroom on who can plan the best party. I have felt that pressure, but I’ve taken the pressure off myself now. But the article actually made me feel like less of a parent because I wanted to make some magic for my children. Again, understand the sentiment, but the actually article made me a little defensive.
I enjoy making these memories for my children, but I’m also making these memories for myself.
I say do what makes you and your family happy, but don’t feel the need to compete.
Thanks for this blog. You defended me perfectly 🙂
My boys were so lax and not caring about tooth fairy! My second son left a tooth on the corner of the microwave for about a week. Because I got sick of looking at it, I threw it away and put a dollar in its place. Then I let him know the tooth fairy got tired of coming and looking for it, so she left the dollar on the microwave. he was fine and thought he made it easier for her. HA! Boys react way differently than girls.
This is BRILLIANT. You have nailed the fine line of mothering magic, and your kids are just starting out.
Awesome. I love the humanness!
I read the same article, and felt the same need to ‘defend the magic’, although I couldn’t express why. I agree, you can take it too far. But sometimes it can be so much fun. My sister had a stuffed toy snake that mum once, just for fun, moved while she was sleeping to a new spot. It created the most gorgeous game. He started moving every week or so. At some point Mum found a pink companion for him that he ‘met’ one night to shrieks and giggles when we woke up. But the crowning glory was when him and his lady friend produced a whole litter of teeny tiny stuffed snakes. They don’t sell those, Mum must have spent goodness knows how long sewing them. But you know what? That was magic. I remember it twenty years later. And Mum enjoyed it as much as us! There’s definitely a time and a place for everything.
I think the problem is when all this “special” becomes something so normal, desensitizing the average child, and they expect bigger and grander things every time.
If not handled correctly, it can be a set up for disappointment once you’re not a child anymore, and for developing the “wants” strongly associated with our consumer culture. This just leads to individuals never feeling fully satisfied. Just good for thought.
Iam so guilty of this! And Heidi is SO right! But a little magic is what makes memories. I guess it’s just where you draw a line with that bit of magic! I put a chocolate coin next to my little boys tooth fairy money….fine at Christmas time but what about at Easter time or even August….do you know how hard it is to find chocolate coins when it’s not Christmas..? Yep,pretty damn hard! 🙂 x
I am laughing so hard because I have been the epic tooth fairy failure on more than one occasion. This parenting thing is hard enough and they added the mythical creatures to our job description! Our tooth fairy once left a note that she was giggling to much to enter the room because she heard our dear daughter tooting and thought it was an earthquake! When she realized what it was the dollar and note was left In the next room! Here’s to many more momentous times
I think it’s so cute that you want to create magic for your children.
I think it’s so cute that you want to create magic for your children.
We’ve had some tooth fairy fails ourselves (we just had #7 tooth come out over the weekend – she announced it was lose as she went to bed and when I told her the toothfairy didn’t come to Grandma’s house (where she was going the next night, 5 minutes later she appeared with a mouthful of blood).
-We have definitely stolen from her to pay the toothfairy (or slipped a $10 bill in exchange for 10 ones)
-The toothfairy did forget to come a couple of teeth again when Mom and Dad were way too tired
We now keep a drawful of ones now that we also give out allowance (if chores are done), but in the beginning my husband did got into the bank to get 20 ones just in case.
Wonderful post and sooo funny!!
Kelle, I am 51 years old, and to this day, I remember (FONDLY!!) the time the tooth fairy forgot. When I ran to tell my Mom, she said that she probably got backed up because it was raining outside, but that she was sure she would get to our house soon. Sure enough, sometime later that day, I found the money on my dresser. Do I remember the other (how many teeth do we have?) times that the tooth fairy showed up on time? Nope. So you made a happy memory for Lainey, not a sad one.
Keep up the good work. Your kids are so lucky and blessed to have you. And the rest of us are, too, since you brighten our days with your stories, too.
Oh my goodness…I can now visualize my future in a few short years. I have two boys 3 and under, and that is my style. I loved reading this because it always seems like you get it all done or have it all together, which I cheer for. But reading this I realize there are people like me, best intentions and all 🙂 I love how you keep it real. Always a delight to read. Thank you!
You are absolutely, without a doubt…….(fanfare……) THE BEST !!
this was really entertaining, this one 🙂
i haven’t read this magical childhood article thing and my kids are too small to really be influenced by much outside our little home-bubble but i do think that there can be a happy medium with, well, all things. my deal is that i try to keep things within the spectrum of what i can handle with without causing myself to become over stimulated or spaz. we always tend to work best under pressure around here and also really do enjoy the small things that make moments memorable but we are procrastinators and not very type-A. sometimes i wish i was more type-A and gave shit about going all out but we seem to really pull of some magic with keeping it simple. try as i may, i can’t seem to get hooked on pinterest. intuitive choices at the last minute work for us. (just a short story about me hahahah^^) kids are huge vibe readers and it sounds like you and Brett are really thoughtful and caring and fun parents. when i was waitress for years, I had a mantra: “do what you can do when you can do it” and it really helped me to stay calm and execute high-qual service under pressure, and those 10 words help with the magic child-rearing, too, i think. hugs and kisses and holding hands and eye contact and listening are pretty magical too.
Thanks, Kelle! I read that post that went viral last week, on the heels of my “frozen” dinner and a movie party…on a Monday. I felt so guilty after reading it and embarrassed because I thought that people were probably thinking of me when they read that post. But then, I realized that I do what I do because I love it!!! I enjoy being creative! I enjoy making things fun and I know that a day might come when I can’t or don’t want to turn the milk green or have movie parties and that’s ok!!!! Thanks for writing this. My sentiments EXACTLY!
I went to the bank and bought a roll of gold dollar coins (I think there were 20 in a roll?)…..that way I always had one to slip under the pillow! (and the kiddos thought it was worth so much because hello, GOLD coin!!) 🙂
YES. I totally agree! And that article pissed me off. I can do some silly things right? I have an 8 and 10 year old and we’re on the divulging the truth end of things like tooth fairies and leprechauns. But you better bet my 10 year old was loudly informing me about his tooth going under the pillow so he could get his dollar and enjoy the excitement of waking up with money. He doesn’t care if we do it, he just wants the joy and the charade.
Amen!
We talk a lot in my house about how many of these magical things are just pretend, but boy is it fun to pretend.
My parents LOVE to tell and re-tell about the time they forgot to leave my toothfairy money under the pillow 3-days in a row, despite a gigantic reminder effort via post-its I apparently couldn’t see or read.
And on the third day, I walked up to my dad and said: Dad? I think the tooth fairy’s dead.
We howl and slap the table every time. 🙂
ROCK ON Kelle! Long live the magic!
Oh, Kelle, I’m dying laughing here because of all the times we totally face planted on the tooth fairy thing. We finally got my daughter a tooth fairy pillow with a little pocket on the front so that we didn’t have to wake our light sleeper, and I can’t count the times she woke up and said, “She forgot AGAIN!”
I was pretty good with Santa, used a light hand with the Easter Bunny, and said not just no but hell no to the leprechauns and leaving shoes out for St. Nicholas Day.
It is absolutely a balancing act, and no one can tell you where your particular center will be. Ignore the critics, cut yourself some slack when something doesn’t work out, and enjoy the magic.
Thanks for brightening a miserable rainy day with some wonderful memories!
Laughing SO HARD at this post…When my twins started to get loose teeth I went to the bank and stocked up on gold dollar coins.. when we travel I always hide some in my purse.. Between 3 kids we have lost teeth in 3 states and 2 countries! I have had the front desk clerk write a special letter at the hotel in Canada!
thank you for this.
how we’ll howl and slap the table. YES.
it’s all about balance.
😉
you just keep on doing exactly what you are doing. I still remember the Santa footprints that Santa made every year and his knee prints in front of the nativity scene & I’m over 60! I believed in Santa until I was about 12 – because I had parents and grandparents who encouraged us to believe in what we could not see.
funniest tooth fairy fail story:
As a friend of mine was planting the forgotten dollar under her 7 year old’s pillow (long after she had woken up and realized there was no money) her daughter came in and caught her. Stammmering my friend decided to come out with the truth and said, “Honey, I’m going to tell you the truth…I AM the tooth fairy.” Stunned, her little girl looked up as wide-eyed and innocent as possible and replied, “Really?! For the WHOLE WORLD?”
That’s some serious magic!!
I took a gold dollar coin out of my 4 year old son’s piggy bank to be the tooth fairy when my daughter lost her first tooth. I still haven’t paid it back.
My mama gets kids in on the secret for the other kids. She does Santa, the Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and even the Leprechaun. But she also teaches the story of Saint Nicholas, and teaches about generosity and giving and surprises! *Anyone* who gives a gift in secret is a Santa Claus. That way, the kids all know the truth, but they get to participate in the suprise for their siblings. And they don’t give away the secret to their peers, since there is no “Santa (or whatever character) isn’t real” – they *are* Santa too!
Kelle, this made me laugh. My husband and I are sooooo bad at the tooth fairy these days! My kids have waited weeks for the tooth fairy to come before they spoke up “Mom, why do you think the tooth fairy is not coming?” Me – shocked that they have had their tooth sitting there for weeks – “oh honey, sometimes she gets really busy OR oh honey, its been REALLY cold out, I don’t think she would make it in these freezing cold temps at night”. I feel like a horrible mother after that and I blame my husband for not remembering. Thankfully we have had our game on since our third has been loosing her teeth. Good post as always Kelle!
Lisa
As the mama of two teenagers who are already too big for their britches, let me say that the magic doesn’t last long, and you’ll never regret the extra minutes you spent sweeping up fairy dust or picking reindeer poops out of the carpet.
That Elf on a Shelf, though–that guy is just unnecessary. LOL
The Barbie footprints made me pee a little. You crack me up so bad! I’m a big fat failure with the tooth fairy too. We have a little tooth pouch that we stick the tooth in that asks for the tooth to be kept. I’m sentimental and I knew that they’d find them and I’d have to explain. I’ve gotten so lazy that I stick the dollar in with the tooth and note and put it under the pillow all at once. Praying she doesn’t get curious. Good times 🙂
Funny tooth story! I haven’t had to deal with that for more years than I like to think of.
how true this post is! my 9 year old is starting to catch on with the tooth fairy. her brother lost another tooth last week and after the second night of forgetting to swap the tooth for some money I set out to do it while they were eating breakfast. I then announced that I had found money under his pillow. my 9 year old then tells her brother that she doesn’t think the tooth fairy is real and that it is in fact their parents who do the swapping. I then had to come up with a comeback real quick and proceeded to tell them that I thought the fairy was probably afraid of the dark, hence why she waited till morning to take the tooth the last 3 times. I think she believed it:) so fun being a mom!
I am in my mid-20s. I’m so far away from having kids and starting a family, it’s comical. And yet, posts like this make me so happy. They make me think of the magic my parents gave my sister and me in our childhood. I wouldn’t change any of that! And they also make me excited for that opportunity to do these things for my future children. Thanks for brightening up my day!
OMG, this might be one of your best posts yet. I can relate with every single word LOL! The tooth story (hilariously told btw) and the reflection on it all. I always say “My life is nothing like I thought it would be but everything I ever wanted.” Meaning, I had those Susie Perfect dreams of what I would be when I was “all growed up” and a “Mommy” and after my first child was born with such serious neurological problems, it was a real slap in the face. Then, there was a divorce (Who, ME?!?! Never!) and then my soul mate finally came along and we had three kids in four years. It’s mayhem, bedlam and cray-cray up in here most of the time, and we vacillate between “creating magic” and “whoops, dropped the ball on that,” but it all evens out. You’re right, the “whoopses” make for funny stories. The imperfect is so underrated – its the REAL stuff of life. The stuff you can’t make up :). Thanks for allowing yourself to be real – both sides of you. 🙂
i felt the same way when i read that – about defending the magic. well said.
This is good. So good. What is parenthood if it isn’t creeping around at night doing things with glitter and food coloring to surprise our kids with this the morning, right!? I do this too. I’ve been doing it for twelve years and I just keep having more kids so I can just keep on doing it. And defending the magic? Oh hell yes. Lets keep on defending.
I think if our motives are right and we don’t geel obligated, then we should definitely go after the magic. My personal (HUGE) pet peeve is when Moms try to go above and beyond and they complain about it the whole time. I mean, if you’re going to go there, at least enjoy the journey, ya know? I go above and beyond sometimes, when it’s FUN and if it just feels like a pain, then I skip it! My kids are resilient and they know that every celebration can be fun, no matter how big and fancy, or how small and simple.
@Jess, I went through the same problem hunting for those chocolate coins off season! LOL I found out the Walgreens near me has the chocolate coins year round. At mine they are hidden on the bottom shelf of the candy aisle. You can also get them online at World Market (Euros too!) 🙂
Love live? Or long live? I don’t get your title.
Love this. It is truly both the magic created and magic fails that make life so fun and funny.
My favorite tooth fairy fail was one of my friends – really. They had forgotten a daughter’s tooth fairy money, and of course she ran downstairs wailing that the tooth fairy forgot her. My friend consoled her while motioning to Daddy to get up there and do the deed. Which he did, guilt making him slip a $20 under her blankets.
Of course he came silently back downstairs and innocently asked his little girl, “Did you check under all the blankets?” She had not. Up everyone went, and the little girl ran into the room and indeed found not just a dollar but twenty dollars! Tears turned into smiles. Oh, but they had forgotten the little sister drowsing in her bed in the same room, who poked her head up and said, in the most matter of fact tone, “Yeah, Daddy just put it there.”
FAIL!
Lol.
ROTLOL! By the time you got to Brett waving you off, due to his stealing her dollar, I had tears of laughter rolling down my face! God bless!
Here is a hint for easy Tooth Fairying. When you hug and kiss goodnight, gently, put your hand under the pillow and deposit money. You dont have to remember to get up and sneak in the middle of the night or early morning and the kid never suspects a thing! Tooth Fairy Win!
I think perhaps, the making of magic for our kids might be more for us. It’s what makes the meal prep and laundry and tantrums bearable. I’m sure our kids would have magical childhoods without North Pole parties, but can’t their childhoods be magical to us as well? Aren’t they our memories too? Love your blog!
Oh. My. Gosh. This was hysterical!!! I love your writing and sense of humour! Ha! Then, immediately following my laughter (aloud, at work of course) were meaningful, ‘yes, so true’ thoughts. Creating magic is magic for us adults! Long live the magic!
Thank you so much Kelle! I have to admit, that while I absolutely adore you, your family, and your blog, I sometimes leave this space thinking “holy crap..I do NOT give my kids enough “magical” memories.” I can’t tell you how much better I feel now that I know that you “botch up” every once in a while and that you don’t totally dig doing the reindeer footprints 🙂
This was so great!!! I can’t tell you how many times the tooth fairy has forgotten that damn dollar at our house! I have 8 kids and I am tired sometimes, I have literally been at this forever! LOL And every Christmas Eve when we are tired and still have a zillion gifts to wrap, we remind ourselves how much fun it is in the morning when they wake up. Also, I have teenagers to help out now and they love reliving how great Christmas morning was when they were little. Oh, and I also loved the liberal use of the word “shit” in this post LOLOLOL I am sure Poppa is gonna fuss ; )
So very funny! The tooth fairy has come to our house 3 times and left “gold coins” (dollar coins). I almost forgot last time!
LOVE it (and the well played Olaf reference too!)!! I also read “the other” article on scaling back the holidays, and while I’m not a big-over-the-top-throw-a-a-party-every-holiday kinda momma, I’m ok with those who are! I really liked this blogpost instead of “the other,” much like you, she also has a great perspective on holidays ~ http://momexploresmichigan.blogspot.com/2014/03/no-leprechauns-no-valentines-boxes-no.html
It is funny, YOU are the person I thought about when I read that article about the magic of childhood. I LOVED that article and 100% agree with it. But, I also recognize that mothers like you excel at the special things that some of the rest of us feel only pressure about. I wholeheartedly support you doing those things and think they are awesome. I just really, really don’t want to do them and in the age of Pinterest and Facebook, end up feeling like they have become ‘default’ rather than ‘extra’ childhood activities/experiences. I really needed that article for me to know that I am not alone and that others agree that my child is not missing out on something because I don’t excel at crafts, etc. The difference is that you thrive on those things and they leave me feeling inadequate. Knowing that kids can be fine either way is comforting to me.
This is great!
We don’t do a lot of “magic” in our home. That’s mainly because I was slightly horrified when I found all of my baby teeth and my brother’s teeth in those little green envelopes that the schools used to use, in my mother’s jewelry box. The tooth fairy was the last thing I believed in. My mom had revealed the truth behind Santa to me on Christmas Even one year and I was devastated. Tears! My parents went to great lengths prior to that to make me believe. Plus my husband was raised Jewish so he didn’t believe in Santa ever.
But that being said, I know plenty of people do not have such “sad” stories and I totally get why they enjoy making things extra magical! Also, I am so happy to not be on Facebook anymore as that really applied the pressure of making things magical for every holiday, birthday, etc. I remember thinking at one point during preparations for a birthday party-who am I doing all this for? My daughter? If so, does she really care? No. If it’s for the parents, is that why I personally want to decorate and do so much? So I finally decided what I was content with doing and knowing that some of it was just for my enjoyment. 🙂
Love this! I can totally relate in so many ways! Great post 🙂
I think we can find that balance of creating magic for our kids so that it truly is magical and letting our kids find their own ways. At least that’s what I tell myself when I let them entertain themselves for the afternoon! 🙂 I love the Elf on the Shelf thing but I don’t go crazy with it (seriously, I’m not making a mess for myself to clean up when I can’t clean up the messes my kids make on a daily, wait, scratch that, minute by minute basis)! I can make a mean cookie and turn a regular afternoon snack into something fun and memorable but I suck at throwing parties.
Is it enough to beat myself up over? I hope not!
My girlfriends and I were just talking about this last weekend! My mother forgot the tooth fairy every time. My room was upstairs, hers was down and every morning after the tooth fell out, I’d come down crying “The tooth fairy forgot about me!” And there would be the money on the table next to the stairs, ready to go up before she went to bed and she’d say “Oh no she didn’t! She left it right here! Her wing was broken, or she was really tired, or she had a lot of kids to see that night, she couldn’t make it up to you!” I bought it every time! And just when I was catching onto Santa, my mom had her boyfriend with size 14 feet, step in the ashes in the fireplace. That sealed me for another year! Looking back, my mom nearly blew it a bunch of times and I never caught on. And my boyfriend and I are trying our hardest with our littlest. The elves leave candy in the stocking for 12 days before Christmas. And by that I mean I scramble into some half open bag of goodies, toss in a few at 4:30 am before I go to work. As long as it’s there, she’ll never know. 😉
Oh this made me laugh. I forgot toothfairy duties a number of times, but I just hid quarters in my hand, went to help find the loot, and low and behold, there it was! Worked everytime! Don’t stop the magic. I always told my kids if they ever saw Santa, not to let him see them. So one yr, I let them sleep behind the loveseat in a corner of the room. My brother, dressed as Santa, came thru the front door with bells and all. After he left, they came rushing in my room to tell me they saw Santa leaving presents under the tree!
Can’t.Stop.Laughing!
Brett’s arms flailing in the air….Hahahahahaha!!!
All good things, Kelle, all good things.
Loved this.
That first picture of Lainey? I still see so much of her baby face in it…just thought you’d like to know since she’s losing teeth and all 😉
XOXO,
Angie from Ohio
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Oh my…. you had me laughing. Glad everything worked out. 🙂
I can’t express how much I enjoyed this blog. I totally stole money from my daughter’s piggy bank for her tooth fairy money, and I felt like I must be the only mom to ever do such a horrible thing. Thank you for letting us know we’re not alone in our fails. 🙂
Kelle….
The tooth story!! Crack. Me. Up!! ;-D
I am a strong believer in magic!! 😉
Love you later, Raelyn
When I was young, my mom didn’t have any cash in the house when I lost a tooth. So instead of getting money, the tooth fairy left me some Starburst candies. I thought that was even better than money because I got to eat them right than! No waiting! The next night though, I did get a letter from the tooth fairy commending me on brushing my teeth after eating the candy (it was a trap you know) with a dollar attached to the note.
I don’t remember any other times the tooth fairy came, but this one always sticks with me. Sometimes its the imperfectness that makes the act so perfect.
I totally LOVE this. Even though the “magic” may be meant for them, I LOVE seeing the joy in faces of kids when the magic happens. It’s my magic 🙂 and I need it in my life.
they are all going to grow up, ALL OF THEM. we get a precious few years to do the magic
they are all going to grow up, ALL OF THEM. we get a precious few years to do the magic
Love it!!! You crack me up – We have an almost two year old and I am treading down the same path…
Oh how I love this post! Thank you!
I have found that increasing the value of a tooth to $5 has been very fulfilling for all. It seems like a lot but they lose 20 teeth over about a seven year period so $100 spread over seven years to make everyone happy is worth it and I have four kids! When they are eight and above, giving one dollar is nothing to them. So the five makes them happy, covers the oopsies of the fairy, and it is enough to not have to do anything else fancy. And it feels good damnit, the looks on their faces is worth every dollar!
I have stopped by here for the first time, as I’m reading Bloom and so touched by your journey and your writing style (I’m a writer as well). I do not have children (in fact I write about this), I have not dealt with anything that you have shared in your book, yet I am utterly taken by your story, your humanity, your courage, and your honesty. Your family touches my heart–and I feel I know you through your words and photography. My husband and I rolled over our morning coffee here on the West coast reading about your tooth fairy bungles. Thank you for writing this blog, thank you for being so brave and self-realized.
This post is exactly why I love you, Kelle! Even though we’ve never met.
The tooth fairy is unreliable in our house too, BTW.
I’ve been “tooth-fairying” for many years now and I’ve always told the kiddos that she is busy and sometimes comes right away and other times she comes whenever she can get there. I also tell them she gives them whatever she has in her pocket. Life is busy for us tooth fairies, we have to be cut some slack!!
HYSTERICAL! Love it! So real & so honest. Hey, you’re human. It happens. These are stories the kids are going to LOVE hearing about when they are older! 🙂
I love reading your blog about your beautiful children….My third grandchild is autistic and I know the pain of the initial diagnosis and worrying about the future…Our girl is smart and beautiful and we will make her life all we can…thanks for sharing your life with us all….
I am typically a quiet reader, snooping in from a far and smiling quietly with each story you write. Though today this post made me laugh to the point where even my husband was curious why I was laughing so loud. I reread the story to him and then we laughed together. We don’t have kids yet, but I love your honesty and the real stories that you share. Thanks for reminding us why life is great without all the magic, and that we don’t have to keep up with the Momma Jones’ to have a happy week. Best of luck with your future glitterless tooth fairy ventures!
i have four kids, the youngest a teenager now, and i completely agree with heidi…do NOT start the extravagant things with each tooth. you definitely burn out and they lose a lot of teeth! i thought it was a great idea to give a little toy with the money and boy was that hard to keep up. how many times did i have to run out late at night to find a toy or when we were traveling find something suitable for that night?? it got old very fast but i couldn’t stop it since that is what all the kids knew to be real for our tooth fairy! also a good tip is to have a special bowl or cup on the dresser or a table to put the tooth in so you don’t have to try to slip it out from under their pillow and slip the loot in without waking them…not so easy! keep it all sweet but simple!!
So glad you are defending the magic! 🙂
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Oh my goodness, this made me laugh so hard! Don’t we all struggle with remembering the tooth fairy?! I never have cash either, so when my son started losing teeth, I made a point to stash dollar bills in the cupboard for those times. I think I have enough now, but I just need to remember every time! You covered your blunders perfectly and all the magic was there for Lainey, good job Momma!
This is the first time I’ve commented (I think), though I’ve been reading for years. This is one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read – I just laughed so hard that I choked on my chocolate. Stealing the first dollar to pay the second just ended me.
Our tooth fairy is an abysmal failure.m once, she had to hide in the lampshade when R got up too early and flew down when R went into the bathroom…
Another time, she failed to come for three weeks… In fact, it was only when daddy got back from sea and found the tooth under the pillow that he sent off a serious letter of complaint…
You get the idea.
😉